New KC Medical Practice Offers a Different Approach to Primary Care
What if you could see your doctor when you needed them? What if your doctor had time to really get to know you, to answer your questions and personalize your care? For most primary care patients, this is more of a dream than a reality.
But not for patients of primary care physicians, Drs. Nora Gomez and Paul Hura. They recently opened a new practice in Kansas City. In their MDVIP-affiliated practice, they see fewer patients than most primary care doctors, which means Drs. Gomez and Hura have more time to offer longer appointments and really listen to patients.
Patients in their new practice enjoy:
- Same- and next-day appointments
- Longer, unhurried visits
- Physician availability after hours for urgent needs
“You can Google a symptom and come up with a list of what it could be and maybe what some treatments are, but it’s not going to necessarily be right for you because we’re all different,” says Dr. Gomez, a family medicine doctor.
“So you really need a physician who knows you and understands what that problem means in your life, how is that impeding your wellbeing. And then the treatment plan should be very individualized. You have to have somebody who knows you to really know if this treatment is really going to be appropriate for this individual.”
Most primary care doctors don’t have time to do that and treat patients with a one-size-fits-all approach. “In this practice, I have the time and the opportunity to partner with patients and develop the kinds of relationships that will benefit them,” says Dr. Hura, an internal medicine doctor.
The core of the two doctors’ new approach to medicine is a preventive care program that’s similar to an executive physical and goes beyond what’s traditionally offered in primary care practices. The program is designed to catch health risks before they become health problems.
The MDVIP Wellness Program, which patients will participate in annually, includes advanced screenings and diagnostic tests not typically covered by insurance. The program looks at risk in more than 12 key areas of health, from heart and brain health to bone strength and emotional well-being.
The doctors will use the results to personalize a wellness program for patients.
Patients in MDVIP-affiliated practices like Drs. Gomez’s and Hura’s also experience better health outcomes, according to 10 published studies, including:
- 79% fewer hospitalizations compared to traditional primary care
- 72% fewer ER visits and urgent care visits versus traditional primary care
- Better control of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol than patients in traditional practices
They are also more satisfied with their care: 97% of patients in MDVIP-affiliated practices are satisfied with their doctor versus 58% in traditional practices.
Dr. Hura, a former hospitalist, affiliated with MDVIP after 26 years working in local hospitals because he wants to focus more on preventing illness than just reacting to it.
“I love being a hospitalist, but I recognize that hospital medicine has been changing over the years. Unfortunately, most of what I do in a hospital setting is reactive as opposed to proactive or preventative.”
“I want to partner with patients in a more proactive, preventative healthcare way to hopefully limit or maybe even avoid altogether illnesses that otherwise would have brought them to the hospital setting.”
Dr. Gomez, who has been practicing family medicine in Kansas City for the last 25 years, says she chose to open this new practice because she sees a lot of frustration in patients in larger practices. “I don’t like that. I want to be able to spend time with people and get to know them. And so that’s the reason I want to make the change to a model of practice that’s going to allow me to spend more time with that person, get to know them better, because I think that that’s crucial in providing the best treatment plan for somebody.”
Drs. Gomez and Hura are married and have two adult children. Outside of their practice, they like to spend time with family.
Dr. Hura went to medical school at St. George’s University School of Medicine and did his residency at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, IL. And Dr. Gomez went to the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine and also did her residency at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital.
Drs. Gomez and Hura are accepting new patients! Their office is located at 1010 Carondelet Drive Suite 114 in Kansas City. You can also learn more about their practice by visiting mdvip.com/GomezandHura.